She was Oxygen and he just needed to breath
by Heel Princess
Summary: Oneshot: Karen/Aj. all he wants to do is love her, will this horrible situation give him the chance? Read and Review please. Tried hard to give the pairing a shot.


**Oneshot, inspired by the songs why are we still friends by 98 degrees and face down by the red jumpsuit apperatus. read and review please.**

Everything about the woman drove him crazy; Aj found himself thinking about her constantly. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to shake her from his thoughts, she was always there…haunting him. But alas she wasn't his; she belonged to someone else even though in his mind she shouldn't belong to anyone, she was her own person strong and beautiful trapped in Kurt's hold over her. That man didn't love her, at least not like he could love her…no one could love her like he could. It didn't seem to matter to her though because as hard as he tried she wouldn't give up on her marriage for him.

Best friend, that's all he was to her, probably all he ever would be. "She couldn't loose him," She explained, but she couldn't give him what he wanted either. It was slowly but surely killing him, his heart didn't think it could handle much longer. All he wanted to do was reach out and touch her, hold her, kiss her, call her his own…but he couldn't do any of those things. And not being able to love her while being close to her everyday was destroying him.

It didn't seem to matter to her how many times her husband hurt her, she still professed to love him every time she found out he was cheating on her, or every time he yelled and screamed at her for nothing. To him she was another object in his life that he could move around and play with at his disposal. To Aj she was a queen and all he wanted to do was to treat her like one.

All the time he wished he could just walk away and forget all about the brunette beauty, but he couldn't she was his only addiction. He wasn't sure if god could forgive him for this one, he'd never drank and he'd never done drugs but now he found himself obsessed with another man's wife. What was he turning into? Sometimes he felt like he was strong enough to leave her alone but then it felt as though he couldn't breath…Karen Angle was his oxygen.

A smile appeared on Aj's face as he awoke to his cell phone vibrating on his nightstand, it was her and he knew it. Flipping it open his smile only widened when he read that she needed to see him, his mind prayed that it was because she had finally come to her senses and left Kurt for him. Pulling on a pair of jeans over his boxers he rushed down the stairs to meet her at the door. The bell rang and before it could stop he had swung open the door, the smile disappearing when he saw her face.

The bombshell was a mess, she was crying hysterically and her face was swelling with a deep purple bruise under her right eye. "I didn't know where else to go." She mumbled before Aj could move to tightly wrap his arms around her small frame in protection. He didn't want her to hurt anymore but as he watched her wince in his arms he knew the damage was already done. "Did he do this to you?" He asked, leading her into his home slamming the door as he went. She nodded and it took all that he had to not run out the door and hunt down Kurt like the animal he was. The man was bad but he never imagined that his former friend and mentor would ever go this far.

She took a seat on the sofa and her head quickly fell into her hands. "He just exploded, I've never seen him so angry Allen." He moved to her side and sat down putting his arm around her shoulder and kissing the top of her chestnut head. "What happened?" Aj whispered, curiosity getting the best of him. Karen sniffled, pushing her tears away from her face with her palm. "I found him with some…some rat." She started her voice raspy from all the tears. She began to break down again as she continued. "I flew off the handle, yelling at him about how I thought all that was over. I was pushing him about how many more sluts he had let into our bed…" Sobbing uncontrollably she collapsed into his chest. "And then?" He asked hugging her, and wishing that god would let him just hold the pain instead of her. "And then he just freaked," She said, shaking in Aj's arms. "He started screaming and throwing things, saying that he wouldn't have to sleep around if I kept him satisfied. He said that since we had Kyra and Kody that I've let myself go. That I was so fat that it disgusted him to touch me." Aj had to stop her, "Your gorgeous," He said, "Perfect in every way, he's crazy. Any man would die to touch you." She tried to smile. "But enough about how wrong he is about you, where are the kids darlin', they alright?" She tightened her grip on him, "they're at my mothers for the weekend and I thank god for that."

"You still haven't explained when he hit you." He inquired. She choked back tears as she continued. "Well after all that he said that it didn't matter anyway because I was sleeping with you and I had no right to be angry." Aj's heart sank; he couldn't bare the fact that this was about him. "I'm sorry," He told her kissing her hair again. "It's not your fault its mine." Grabbing her by the shoulders Aj pulled her from his chest to look at her. "Don't ever say that, this isn't your fault. Kurt being jealous has nothing to do with you." He paused for a moment. "So that was when he hit you?" She shook her head no, "I was appalled and I told him that we were finished, that I couldn't handle it anymore and that I wanted a divorce. He called me a slut and the next thing I knew I was on the floor. Kurt just backhanded me and walked out the door." The man beside her held her again. "I just wanted it to all work out, I didn't want to have to throw away all the years. At first I thought it was the road getting to him and I forgave him for not being faithful. Then it continued, then it was how he would snap at me for little things and I let go because I thought he was just tired and frustrated from work. And then it was the title chase; having that meant more then anything to him…it meant more then the children and me. He wouldn't even pick our daughter up, she'd cry for her daddy and he'd look at her like vermin. It tore me apart; I just wanted him to be the old Kurt again. Do you know that he slept with it every night?" She stared to cry harder. "I actually found myself jealous of an object, I wished that he would look at me and touch me like he did that belt."

It was Aj's turn to speak. "You don't deserve to be treated like garbage." He said, titling up her face to meet his gaze. "You deserve to be loved like I love you." She searched out his eyes for some sign of deceit, something that her years with Kurt had made instinct for her. "I would never hurt you," He told as if he knew exactly what it was that she was thinking. "I would spend every second that I have on this earth showing you that nothing means more to me then you." Inching closer to her quivering lips he placed his mouth on hers. She slowly allowed it to happen, trying to find comfort and acceptance from him. Karen wanted to know what it felt like to be number one in someone's life, she wanted to stop fighting off what Aj was offering and just let him love her like he wanted to. As much as she pretended that it didn't exist, she'd always loved him.


End file.
